According to Democratic candidates who ran for House of Representative seats in 2006, Rahm Emanuel, then head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, took sides during the Democratic primary elections, favoring conservative candidates, including former Republicans, and sidelining candidates who were running in favor of withdrawal from Iraq
....
How Emanuel came to his decisions about which candidates to support against Democratic opponents is known only to Emanuel and his staff. Emanuel declined direct comment on this story. But an examination of individual races reveals a pattern of financial and political support for wealthy conservative candidates and an assault on their grassroots-supported opponents who were running on platforms that included a full withdrawal of US forces from Iraq.

—Matt Renner writing in "Democratic House Officials Recruited Wealthy Conservatives"
 

In the matter reported here—of the continued conservative hold on the Democratic Party—you cannot possibly be surprised if you have been following the decisions of the Democratic leadership in Congress. Or even if you have been reading Simply Appalling.

There are true-believer Democratic supporters who, in order to keep their world-view intact, fantasize that the Democratic leadership are "biding their time" and "gathering strength" until such time as they can act decisively. In fact, just like the Republican leadership, the Democratic leadership are trying to retain their base. They do this by maintaining certain populist façades, the most critical being a show of support for withdrawal from Iraq and a demand for worker protection in the face of globalization. They believe in neither.1

You do not have to be privy to the councils of the powerful to know what they are up to—most of the time. Use your intelligence. Use your common sense. And inform that intelligence and common sense by paying attention.

In the article I'm proposing to you here, Matt Renner looks in detail at four Congressional Democratic primary races of 2006. He still doesn't have all the "facts"—that is to say, Rahm Emanuel hasn't confessed. Neither has Howard Dean, who Renner suggests opposed him. Neither has Nancy Pelosi. Neither has Steny Hoyer. Nor have any of the other wielders of power within the Democratic Party. But we do not need a confession to convict.

Related posts
"Here comes the truth" (6/20/05)
In case you were looking to the Democrats for your salvation (8/19/05)
No. Not some troops; all troops (9/25/05)
Observation of the Day (11/5/05)
Political Wire: Democratic Leaders Back Away from Impeachment Talk (3/7/06)
In religion Left is Right (5/20/06)
Political Profile of the Day (8/30/06)
Iran and the New York "money people" (1/12/07)

Tags: * Democratic Party antiwar conservatives Congress voter base